Metal wheel



L. S. LACHMAN.

METAL WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED mum. 1919.

1 ,3 40, 96 1 Patented May 25, 1920.

INVENTOR WWW ATTORN EY- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAURENCES. LACHMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., 'ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY, OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA- TION OF IENNSYLVANIA.

ME'BVAL WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1920.

Application filed June 3, 1919. Serial No. 301,454.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAURENCE S. LACH- MAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of metal wheels and is object is to provide a wheel of great strength and rigidity capa-- ble of resisting effectively torsional as well as other strains by embodying in the construction of its spoke portion angle bars of ordinary commercial shape utilized 1I1 such manner that the said spokes shall be essenfastened to the spider, it may be likewise utilized in other constructions.

Briefly stated my invention consists in constructing each radiating spoke element of'the rigid spider from a pair of angle bars or rods assembled edge to edge to form a tubular spoke member and fastened together and to suitable side plates or retaining members at the assembled or contacting edges ofsaid angle bars.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheel embodying my invention, the retaining or fastening side plates or members being broken away and part of the rim being shown in cross-section.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the wheel on the line 2-2 Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. a V

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modification in the manner of fastening the two angle bars together edge to edge and Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5-5 Fig. 4.

To show one of the ways in which my invention may be embodied in a wheel, I have illustrated the same as applied to a construction of wheel which, in its general form and in some of its details, is the same as that illustrated in the application filed by Maurice Lachman on November 2nd, 19l7,

Serial No. 192,828, wherein is shown a wheel embodying s1deplates 3 embracing the rigid spoke member or spider and each of saidside plates being formed with an inturned flange 7 upon'which a metal rim 2 may be seated or'shrunk. Said side plates are also -provided with an offset 8 and a ledge or step 9"to make an annular groove near the edge fer stifi'ening the side plates and forming a support for transverse reinforcing pieces 10. Likewise at the center each plate or disk, as described in said application, is provided with an inwardly extending flange 11 adapted to form, in conjunction with a similar flange on the opposite plate, a cylindrical hub barrel, strengthening annular hub plates 6 being used in addition to reinforce the hub construction.

In the construction embodying my pres ent invention, each spoke portion 1 of the inclosed rigid spider or rigid member em-,

braced by the said plates is composed of two angle bars assembled with their edges engaged as at 15, thus making each spoke of tubular form to thereby strengthen the construction while making it possible to utilize in the tubular construction the ordinary commercial angle bar or rodi In the particular embodiment of my invention shown sections of angle bar are employed of suflicient length to permit the bending of each section into the form of a U which is assembled, as to both legs of the U, with the similar leg of adjoining U- shaped forms although, as will be obvious, the wheel might be built up with tubular spokes formed of angle bars of other shapes without departing from my invention. In

the form shown the bases of the We are pref- V erably arranged to engage directly against the hub barrel. To complete the construction the angle bars constituting the spoke members are suitably fastened together at their edges 15, which may be done by welding them together in any suitable way along said edges continuously or at one or more points and the plates or disks embracing the tubular members thus formed are preferably secured against them by employment of spot welds repeated any desired number of times in the radial length of the spoke and as indicated atpoints 4, Fig. 1, for one of'said spokes.

As will be seen, the sharp edge of the spoke member facilitates the formation of the welds between said member and the inclosing plate or disk 3. To further secure the plates 3 in position it is obvious that the usual-bolts may be passed through the hub plate 6 and that, further, the metal rims 2 may be utilized for the same purpose by Welding them to the flanges 7.

In the modification of my invention illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 the edges of the angle bars constituting} the tubular spokes are shown as fastened together by small buttons or welding pieces 14 applied to the corner or angle, the inclosing plates or disks 3 being used to inclose and strengthen the structure in the manner already described in this and in the prior application above referred to.

I do not limit myself to spot welding the edges of the bars to one another by spot welds or button Welds but obviously might use acetylene or other welding to secure the twoangle bars constituting each spoke mem ber in the proper assembled relation to make a tubular portion of the rigid inclosed frame or spider.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a wheel of the character described, a substantially rigid spoke member comprising sections or lengths of angle iron assembled edge to edge to form radial tubular spokes and combined'with side plates 

